Create Roman blinds using CORDLESS mini blinds

I have wanted to make those cute roman blinds posted all over Pinterest for years now, so I finally did it! I bought the mini blinds, I purchased the fabric (ok, I actually purchased some curtain panels because I figured that should work too), and I set to work to make this happen!

create Roman blinds using CORDLESS mini blinds

It didn’t go as effortlessly as I thought it would. Please, stay with me here. I hope you can learn from my mistakes!

First of all, the mini blinds I bought were NOT corded. Did you know that corded mini blinds are not easy to find anymore? They may have even been taken off the market because of safety reasons. Anyway, there is a difference! The ones I bought were the push-up blinds that don’t have a cord hanging on the side. They are nice, for sure, but the process does not work the same as in many of the Pinterest posts! They tell you to lay the blind, stretched out on the fabric to create the blind. Well, let me tell you, that doesn’t work when the blind is tensioned! The blind will constantly close up on itself, as it was made to do! Pretty frustrating when you’re trying to work with, though! I tried to secure it on the floor with my coffee table legs which did help some.

The second mistake I made was buying blinds that were too big for my window, both in width and length! Yes, you can make these roman blinds to mount on the window frame, but I found that mounting them inside creates a cleaner look. And if you buy the blinds too long, it will also work, but you will have a lot more fabric to work with!

So yes, for this particular window, I created two blinds! The second time around, I had a better idea of what would work. Let me explain my process!

Supplies needed:

Cordless mini blinds
Fabric
Mod podge glue
Sponge brush
Scissors
Tape measures
Sewing machine to create hems. (I’m sure you could also use sewing tape to make the hem).

Instructions:

Measure the inside of your window
Order to size and have them cut your blind so that you have space for wiggle room. My window was 58” wide, and I had my blind cut to 57 ¼”. The window was 37” long, so I went with the 48” length. They can’t do anything about the length, so that was ok. (The first time around, I used the 68” length, which was way too long and hard to work with!) Live and learn!
Find a fabric you like (and will match!) The first time the finished product looked good with my wall colour but not with my backsplash! Oh boy…it’s a frustrating moment when it’s finally hung, and you realize it doesn’t look as you envisioned it!! For the first set of blinds I actually found curtain panels that were quite inexpensive at Ikea, and large enough for the project. This saves on some sewing if you can use some of the existing hemmed sides. For the second blind I ended up using a cute shower curtain that I thought would work. I even saw a table cloth at Ikea that I thought would have made a nice blind. Definitely make sure you think outside of the fabric store box, when looking for the right fabric!
Install the mini blind hardware for a inside mount.

Measure the header of your blind to get exact measurements

measure headrail for correct fabric panel size

Iron your fabric and lay it out on a large flat surface. I used my living room floor.
Because I used preexisting hems from the curtain, I only needed to add 1” to the width of the fabric. If not add 2” so that you can hem up both sides of the blind.
Take the length of the mini blind and add about 5” for covering the header and the bottom of the blind. You can always trim it down later, but you can’t add! (mine was 48” and I measured 53” of fabric for length).
Once you have cut your fabric to size, hem both sides so you end up with a panel of fabric to the exact size of your blind.

Lay the panel face down on the floor. Lay your mini blind down on top of your fabric, also faced down.
Place the mini blind about 2″ down from the top of your fabric panel. You will wrap the headrail with this part of the fabric.
Many Pinterest posts will explain how they take the blind apart, removing most of the slats, leaving only the ones that you will need for folds. I saw one post that kept all the slats in the mini blind so that the finished product would be a more sturdy blind. This is especially good for wide windows, where the fabric could potentially be too heavy and break over time. Besides, I’m not sure that tensioned blinds can be taken apart!
Using Mod Podge and your sponge brush, apply glue to the back of the headrail and wrap it with the fabric, making sure that both ends of the headrail are even with the fabric panel. You can use a clothespin to hold the fabric in place as it dries.

Next, I took the mini-blind and hung it on the installed hardware. (I made slits in the fabric on the back of the headrail so the hardware could slip in and hook on).
You will now have something that looks like this. Not too impressive yet, but wait!

Roll up the fabric and pin it. Make sure the slats of the blind are completely closed. Measure how far apart you want your folds to be. I’ve read different things here, from 4” apart to 10” or more. It probably depends on your length of blind as well. I did mine about 9” apart starting at the bottom, the top was a little more as I didn’t want the top fold too short. I marked an X with pencil on the slat that would be my fold. I ended up with 5 folds.

I painted pod modge on the whole slat with the first X. This will be my first fold.
Unroll your fabric and let it fall. Carefully smooth the fabric onto the slat that you painted with glue, starting at the edge so that the fabric and the slat are even. Press the fabric onto the glued slat all the way across. Once you are satisfied, roll up your fabric again to expose the next Xed slat. Repeat the process until you have finished the last X slat.

When you come to the bottom rail, add mod podge to the bottom of the rail and press your fabric onto that. I had a little too much fabric leftover, so I cut that off after I had adhered the fabric. Leave a little edge of the fabric so you can glue it to the back side of the bottom rail to give it a cleaner edge.
Let everything dry for 10 minutes and push up on your new cordless roman blind. It’s pretty sweet to watch those folds appear!